https://x.com/autocorrect2_0/status/1905410441381130674?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
"She walked into the Roman arena where the wild beasts awaited her. She trembled not from fear but from joy. Her name was Vibia Perpetua. She was just 22, a young mother singing hymns as the crowd jeered and a lion, leopard and wild cow encircled her. One of the beasts attacked, hurling her to the ground. She covered an exposed thigh with her bloody robe to preserve her modesty and groped in the dust for her hair pin so she could fix her disheveled hair. And when a Roman executioner approached Perpetua with a sword, her last words before collapsing were aimed at her Christian companions: “Stand fast in the faith, and love you all one another and do not let our sufferings be a stumbling block to you.” History remembers Perpetua because she kept a diary during her imprisonment entitled "The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity" (Felicity was a pregnant slave girl arrested with Perpetua). Her diary is one of the rare and oldest-surviving documents written by a Christian woman. The emotion in the diary is almost unbearable. Perpetua describes the pain of leaving her infant son, who she was still nursing. She describes a prison visit from her weeping father, who kissed her hands while pleading with her to renounce her faith. A narrator picks up the story in the diary after Perpetua was sent to her death. He wrote in the diary that Perpetua’s faith was so inspiring it caused the prison’s warden to convert. The narrator also describes Perpetua's death. While she was imprisoned, Perpetua says God gave her visions to reassure her. After one, she wrote: “I understood that I should fight, not with beasts but against the devil." If only we were so wise!"
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/perpetua.html
I doubt that many progressive christians would act thus. I doubt that the number of conservative Christians would be as high as we think it would be.
3 comments:
Indeed. To face martyrdom like a Christian is a huge ask. To face it at all is beyond what most would allow rather than renounce their faith. That's why such people are held in such high esteem, and we are humbled by remembering them.
Every time I've done a spiritual gifts inventory, I breathe a sigh of relief when I don't get martyrdom.
As we see so many progressive christians adapting their beliefs to avoid offending society, deconstructing their faith to the point of abandoning it, or complaining about injustice from behind their iPhones (made with slave labor) instead of risking themselves, I find it hard to believe that many would quickly grow a spine when faced with death.
While I don't seek martyrdom, I understand that it is part and parcel of the Christian faith. If faced with it, I sincerely hope that I'd be praying to YHWH for strength rather than quickly deconstructing my faith.
As we see the numbers of Christian Martyrs increasing, I guess it's something we need to consider.
Amen. When I hear of Christians being put to death for being Christians, I think of the old adage, "There but for the grace of God go I."
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